Montco meth dealer sentenced to state prison

NORRISTOWN – An Upper Gwynedd man wept as he was handcuffed and as he hugged his wife goodbye before being taken to state prison for his role in a methamphetamine trafficking organization that operated in Montgomery and Philadelphia counties.

Francesco “Frank” Messina, 44, of the 600 block of Garfield Avenue, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court on Tuesday to three-to-six years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to charges of corrupt organizations, possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine and conspiracy in connection with incidents that occurred between December 2011 and March 2012.

Judge Thomas G. Gavin, a visiting senior judge from Chester County, also ordered Messina, who at the time of his arrest worked at a Lansdale area auto-body shop, to complete 15 years’ probation after he’s paroled from prison, meaning Messina will be under court supervision for 21 years.

“Frank Messina is a drug dealer, a drug user, and he used both lying and manipulation to accomplish those goals. Now he can think about what he did the next few years in state prison,” said Assistant District Attorney Jason Whalley, who argued for a lengthy state prison sentence against Messina. “He was one of the top guys in this organization and that’s why the commonwealth sought state prison sentences for him.”

“Frank Messina is now held responsible for his irresponsible actions to both the communities of Hatfield and Lansdale and Montgomery County as a whole. Now he’s off the streets,” Whalley added.

The sentence includes a mandatory three-year prison term that prosecutors sought under state laws that allow for mandatory sentences based on the amount of drugs involved in crimes. With the charges, prosecutors alleged the weight of the methamphetamine was between five-and-10 grams.

Specifically, by pleading guilty, Messina, who at the time of his arrest resided in the 700 block of Schwab Road in Hatfield, admitted to directly delivering more than two grams of meth to an undercover detective on two occasions and to being involved in the delivery, conducted by some of his alleged co-defendants, of another five grams of the drug.

Messina was one of 32 people, many of whom lived in Hatfield, Schwenksville, Lansdale, Gilbertsville, Phoenixville, Royersford, Lower Providence, Limerick, North Wales, Blue Bell and Philadelphia, who were charged in connection with their alleged roles in the operation as distributors, users or pushers of the expensive drug.